Pressure bar for fountain pens



May 13, 1941.. w. J. GlLLr-:TT Erm. "2,241,850

PRESSURE BAR FOR FOUNTAIN PENS Filed NGV. 27, 1939 ww QN QN mw,

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Patented May 13, 1941 PRESSURE BAR. FOR FOUNTAIN PENS William J. Gillettand Victor C. Sharp, Fort Madison, Iowa, assignors to W. A. Sheaner PenCompany, Fort Madison, Iowa, a corporation of IDelaWare ApplicationNovember 27, 1939, lSerial No. 306,264

(Cl. 1Z0-46) 9 Claims.

This invention relates to a fountain pen pressure bar and has specialreference to a compound actuating lever for uniformly compressing theelastic sac or tube serving as a reservoir for Writing fluid in afountain pen.

More particularly, this invention relates to a pressure bar for fountainpens comprising connected relatively resilient and rigid arm members inwhich the resilient arm member has a guide thereon for engagement withan operating lever mounted on the fountain pen, the operating leverengaging the guide during movement thereof to depress the rigid arm andthe resilient arm causing a return to a normal inoperative position ofthe compressing means upon the release of the lever.

The pressure bar of this invention is used as a compressing means forfountain pens employing an elastic sac or tube for holding a writingfluid, the compressing means depressing the tube to create a vacuumtherein. Suction during the expansion of the tube from the compressedposi tion thereof fills the elastic tube or sac with writing fluidduring the expansion thereof to its normal position. The particularembodiment of pressure bar shown herein is of one-piece constructioncomprising a double bar formed of a single strip of material including aresilient arm and an inn-er relatively rigid arm slit from the materialintermediate the resilient sheet, the end of the resilient strip beingbent back upon itself in a spaced relation to form an open loop to fitWithin and'frictionally to engage the inner end of the bore of thebarrel of the fountain pen opposite to the writing point end thereof.

In the prior art applicants have knowledge of actuating levers forcompressing the elastic sacs or tubes forming reservoirs for fountainpens and the present invention is an improvement of the type of pressurebar illustrated and described in the Stempel Patent No. 1,852,094,issued April 5, 1932, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication. In the present application the rigid arm slit from anintermediate portion of the material of the resilient strip is formedwith a guide for engaging with the operating lever mounted in alongitudinal slot of the fountain pen barrel. A relatively substantialamount of pressure is required to operate the elements and to compressthe flexible sac acting as the reservoir for the Writing fluid andbecause of the material of the barrel being relatively thin and thepivotal means for the operating lever being relatively small, it hasbeen found desirable to provide a guide to materially increase thestrength of the assembly. Heretofore the material bounding the slot ofthe barrel in which the operating lever seats and extends served as theguide for the lever at an intermediate portion of the length thereof andduring the pivotal operation thereof. In the present instance, the leveris guided at one `end as Well as at an intermediate portion thereof.

One of the objects of lthis invention is to provide a pressure bar ofthe type indicated above for compressing an elastic sae serving as areservoir for a fountain pen in which the rigid bar of the assembly isprovided with a guide for directing the movement of the operating lever.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pressure bar of thetype described above in which the weight of the component parts of theactuating lever is relieved from the elastic sac and in which thestrength of the assembly is relatively increased.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter be moreparticularly pointed out and, for a more ycomplete understanding of thecharacteristic features of this invention, refer- Yence may now be hadto the following description When taken together with the accompanyingdrawing, in which latter:

Figure lis a central longitudinal sectional view of a fountain penequipped with the pressure bar of this invention showing the latter inan operative condition with the elastic sac compressed;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the pressure bar of thisinvention being shown in an inoperative position showing the flexiblesac in an expanded condition;

Fig. 3 is a plan elevational View of the pressure bar of 'thislinvention disassociated from the fountain pen;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional View of the pressure bartaken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View of a fragmentaryportion of the pressure bar taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the pressure bar showing an operativeposition thereof with the rigid arm moved away from its complementaryresilient arm member; and

Fig. 'l is a perspective View similar to Fig. 6 showing the rigid armreturned to an inoperative position in the substantial plane of thecomplementary resilient arm portion.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the embodimentillustrated therein comprises a fountain pen barrel or casing iii havingan .elastic sac or tube ll forming a reservoir for Yible sac H.

writing fluid disposed therein, the sac being open ended and secured atthe open end thereof to. a reduced end portion I2 of the ink-feedingmechanism. A second reduced end portion of the inkfeeding mechanism isdisposed frictionally in the open end of the barrel I0, and the assemblyof the flexible sac, ink-feeding mechanism, and barrel is merely shownin one usual manner well known in the art.

The barrel Il! of the fountain pen is provided with an elongatedlongitudinally extending slot I4 between the walls of which is pivotedan operating lever I5 on a ring I6 which latter is held in a groove inthe bore of the barrel. The lever when in its normal or closed positionpreferably extends substantially the full length of the sloil I4. Aslight depression I'I in the barrel is made at one end of the slot inorder that the thumb nail may be inserted beneath one end of the leverI5 so as to raise the lever, the other end of the lever being forceddownwardly as shown more Vparticularly in Fig. 1 to compress the ink sacin a manner which will hereinafter be more particularly described.

The pressure bar is shown in the form of a double bar which is removablymounted within the bore of the casing between the ileXible sac and theinner wall of the casing adjacent the slot I4. The pressure barcomprises a resilient strip of material one end of which is bent backupon itself in a spaced relation to form an open loop I8. The bore ofthe barrel at the end thereof opposite the writing point end is reducedas at I9 to house the open loop I 8 of the pressure bar. The diameter ofthe bore of the reduced portion it is slightly less than 'the normalwidth of the open loop so that the open loop is forced thereinto andheld therein by a frictional engagement of the loop within the bore.

The main body portion of the pressure bar is slit at spaced pointsintermediate the width of the bar as at 2e and 2i, the slits 20 and 2|eX- tending from adjacent one endV of the resilient strip to a pointadjacent the loop end thereof, the slit portions being united by a crossslit to provide a free end for an arm 22. The arm 22 is provided with aplurality of longitudinally eX- tending embossments 23 to form the arm22 into a relatively rigid arm. The portions of t'he resilient stripforming the pressure bar and bounding the edges of the relatively rigidbar 22 form a relatively resilient arm 24.

The formation of theinner rigid arm 22 out of an intermediate portion ofthe material of the strip provides an opening through which one end ofthe lever I5 extends when it is operated to cause the rigid arm 22 tocompress the ilex- The shorter end of the lever I5 engages the rigid arm22 which, as has been hereinbefore mentioned, normally rests in asubstantial plane with the 4outer resilient arm portions 245' againstthe inner wall of the bore of the barrel, and depresses the rigid armagainst the flexible sac asshown more particularly in Fig. 1. 'Ihe bar22 being relatively rigid compresses the flexible sac evenly anduniformly throughout the entire length thereof. 'l Y The resiliency ofthe arm M is sufficient to cause it tolspring outwardly against theinner face of the bore of the barrel i@ when the pressure of the leverl5 is released, the latter action being accomplished by pushing theoutwardly extending end of 'the lever downwardly against the outer wallof the barrel of the fountain pen. The

y resilience of the Varm also holdsthe lever I 5 in a closed position inthe slot I4. The present construction thus holds the pressure bar ineither open or closed position and does not depend upon the flexibilityor resiliency of the sac to accomplish this purpose.

In order to receive a maximum strength in the assembly of the variouselements, the relatively rigid bar 22 is provided with a guide 25 whichis preferably slit and deformed upwardly out of the plane of and from anintermediate portion of the rigid arm 22. The lever I5 is preferably ofsubstantially U-shaped cross section and straddles the upwardlyextending guide portion 25 during the full movement of the lever tocompress the flexible sac. A stop 26 is deformed upwardly out of theplane of the rigid bar 22 and is disposed adjacent the guide 25 in orderto predetermine the limit of movement of the operating lever i5.

ihfhile but a single embodiment of this invention is herein shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that various modifications thereof maybe apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of this invention and, therefore, the same is only tobe limited by the scope of they prior art and the appended claims.

We claim: Y

l. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted within said casing, of means forcompressing said reservoir including connected relatively resilient andrigid arm members, said rigid arm member having a guide thereon, saidlever engaging said guide during movement thereof t-o depress said rigidarm, said resilient arm causing a return to a normal inoperativeposition of said compressing means upon the release of said lever. Y

2. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted within said casing, of means forcompressing said reservoir including connected relatively resilient andrigid arm members, said rigid arm member having a guide thereon deformedfrom the material and out of the plane thereof, said lever engaging saidguide during movement thereof to depress said rigid arm, said resilientarm causing a return to a normal inoperative position of saidcompressing means upon therelease of said lever.

3. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted within said casing, of means forcompressing said reservoir including connected relatively resilient andrigid arm members, said rigid arm member having adjacently disposedguide and stop members thereon, said lever engaging said guide memberduring movement thereof to depress said rigid arm and being limited inits movement by said stop member..

said resilient arm causing a return to a normal inoperative position ofsaid compressing means upon ythe release of said lever.

4. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted within said casing, of means Vforcompressing said reservoir including integrally formed relativelyresilient and rigid arm members, said rigid arm member having a guidethereon, said lever engaging saidV guide during movement thereof todepress said rigid arm, said resilient arm causing a return to a normalinoperative position of said compressing means upon the release of saidlever.

5. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted Within said casing, of means forcompressing said reservoir including a strip of resilient material bentback upon itself at one end in a spaced relation to form an open loop, arelatively rigid arm member slit from an intermediate portion of saidresilient strip and having a guide thereon, said lever engaging saidguide during movement thereof to depress said rigid arm, the materialbounding said rigid arm causing a return to a normal inoperativeposition of said compressing means upon the release of said lever.

6. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever mounted in a longitudinal slot therein and acompressible ink reservoir inserted within said casing, a strip ofresilient material bent back upon itself at one end in a spaced relationto form an open loop, of means for compressing said reservoir includingan intermediate portion of said rigid strip being slit and embossed toform a relatively rigid arm member, said relatively rigid arm memberhaving a guide thereon, said lever engaging said guide during movementthereof to depress said rigid arm, the material bounding said rigid armcausing a return to a normal inoperative position of said compressingmeans upon the release of said lever.

7. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever of substantially U-shaped cross-section mounted in alongitudinal slot therein and a compressible ink reservoir insertedwithin said casing, of means for compressing said reservoir includingintegrally formed relatively resilient and rigid arm members, said rigidarm member having a guide and a stop adjacent `thereto deformed from thematerial and out of the plane thereof, said U- shaped lever straddlingsaid guide during movement thereof to depress said rigid arm and beinglimited to the movement thereof by said stop, said resilient arm causinga return to a normal inoperative position of said compressing means uponthe release of said lever.

8. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever of substantially U-shaped cross-section mounted in alongitudinal slot therein and a compressible ink reservoir insertedwithin said casing, of means for compressing said reservoir includingconnected relatively resilient and rigid arm members, said rigid armmember having a guide thereon projecting above the plane thereof, saidU-shaped lever straddling said guide during movement lthereof to depresssaid rigid arm, said resilient arm causing a return to a normalinoperative position of said compressing means upon the release of saidlever.

9. In combination with a fountain pen having a hollow casing with anoperating lever of substantially U-shaped cross-section mounted in alongitudinal slot therein and a compressible ink reservoir insertedWithin said casing, of means for compressing said reservoir includingconnected relatively resilient and rigid arm members, said rigid armmember having an intermediate portion slit .and raised above the surfacethereof to form a guide, said lever straddling said guide duringmovement thereof to depress said rigid arm, said resilient arm causing areturn to a normal inoperative position of said compressing means uponthe release of said lever.

WILLIAM J. GILLETT. VICTOR C. SHARP.

